French ship Droits de l'Homme (1794)

Fight of the Droits de l'Homme, by Léopold Le Guen
History
France
Name	Droits de l'Homme
Namesake	La Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen
Ordered	16 February 1793
Builder	Port-Liberté (now Lorient) Naval Dockyard
Laid down	May 1793
Launched	29 May 1794
Completed	July 1794
Fate	Wrecked 14 January 1797
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Téméraire-class ship of the line
Displacement	2,966 tonnes 5,260 tonnes fully loaded
Length	55.87 metres (183.3 ft) (172 pied)
Beam	14.90 metres (48 ft 11 in) (45 pied 10 pouces)
Draught	7.26 metres (23.8 ft) (22 pied)
Propulsion	Up to 2,485 m2 (26,750 sq ft) of sails
Armament	74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 × 36-pounder long guns Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 × 8-pounder long guns 4 × 36-pounder carronades
Armour	Timber

Droits de l'Homme (French for 'Rights of Man'; [dʁwa də l‿ɔm]) was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars. Launched in 1794, the ship saw service in the Atlantic against the British Royal Navy.

She was part of the fleet that sailed in December 1796 on the disastrous Expédition d'Irlande. After unsuccessful attempts to land troops on Ireland, the Droits de l'Homme headed back to her home port of Brest with the soldiers still on board. Two British frigates were waiting to intercept stragglers from the fleet, and engaged Droits de l'Homme in the action of 13 January 1797. Heavily damaged by the British ships and unable to manoeuvre in rough seas, the ship struck a sandbar and was wrecked. Hundreds of people died in the disaster.